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I want to join the following two sentences into one sentence, and I'm not sure what tense to use.

I joined a site. The site is focused on learning English.

Should I use present tense for describing the site, that is:

I joined a site which is focused on learning English.

Or should I use past tense for describing the site, that is

I joined a site which was focused on learning English.

(This is a question a friend asked me)

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1 Answer 1

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The best option would be:

I have joined a site which is focused on learning English.

Reason- You have joined the site and you are still in the site and you did not leave it. So the result of your last action (joining the site) still persists.

Why is Your No 1 option not Fully appropriate-

I joined a site does not imply that you are still in the site, which is not true. You are in it and you did not leave the site. You may still be in and it maybe that you have left the site lately which is not written.

Why Your No 2 Is Fully inappropriate-

which was focused on learning English. implies that the site was at one point, focused on learning English, but it is not focused on learning English now, which is wrong.

If you are learning English, I would suggest that you not follow any hard and fast rule for joining sentences. When you join sentences, just make sure the resultant sentence keeps the meaning of both the original sentences.

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  • In the question, the third example has the text attributed here to No 2, and the explanation you give (which is a good one) is more applicable to No 3. According to this explanation, and ignoring the number designations, the second example is the appropriate one. So there's a contradiction.
    – barbara beeton
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 14:25
  • With all due respect @barbarabeeton, I can see the first highlighted sentences are the parent, the second (I joined a site which is....) and third highlighted sentence (I joined a site which was....) s are one of OP's options. So I took his first option as 1 and his second one as no 2
    – Mistu4u
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 14:29
  • It almost seems that we are not looking at the same sentences. In both the first and second examples, the relevant verb is "is"; "was" is in the third example. Your reference to No 2 uses the "was" sentence in its explanation, and states that "was" is wrong because it says the site is no longer focused on learning English. To me, that points to No 3, not to No 2. I agree with the explanation, just not with the reference to No 2.
    – barbara beeton
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 14:43
  • So you're saying "I joined a site ..." is inappropriate, while "I have joined a site ..." is appropriate?
    – Golden Cuy
    Commented Feb 5, 2013 at 9:43

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